Craig Levein has criticised the decision to charge both his side and Hibernian for a "mass confrontation" during last week's Edinburgh derby.

The clubs have been issued with notices of complaint from the Scottish Football Association following two second-half flashpoints at Tynecastle, but Hearts boss Levein insists the response is disproportionate.

He said: "I worry about the game when that is seen as a mass confrontation.

"People think players are robots who can control every emotion going. But the whole idea of teamwork is to support your team-mates.

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"When I look at the first situation I don't see anything in it. I see a lot of people going in to break things up and stop a situation arising. In fact, I thought they were helping the referee."

Levein - whose club faces a maximum £10,000 fine if found guilty at next Thursday's hearing - added: "If the compliance officer wants to watch some games from the past then maybe she would recognise exactly what a difficult situation that is. But that was nothing.

Hearts manager Craig Levein (Image: SNS Group)

"And I really worry if that is what is going to be seen as confrontation - that's nothing.

"Just about everyone is trying to keep the peace and trying to help the referee. Just because there are people there doesn't mean it's confrontational.

"I certainly think those situations could have got out of hand had it not been for the players trying to calm it."

The goalless derby draw came in amongst two heavy defeats to Celtic which exposed the extent of the Jambos' injury woes.

But Levein is clinging on to hopes that skipper Christophe Berra and talisman Steven Naismith could be set for early returns from their long-term lay-offs in the coming weeks.

That would be a major boost as Hearts look to defend their position at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership table.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's visit of Kilmarnock, he said: "You don't stay at the top of the league for as long as we have without deserving it.

"We've had a lot of things to contend with that are out of the ordinary and I'm talking mainly about the injuries but yet we're still in the same position.

"The key for us is trying to stay out in front to the point where we get our main players back.

"I think we can stay in the fight (at the top), it's just about hanging in there right now. We've got four or five players out who are arguably definite starters.

"I'm hoping that Christophe and Steven are ahead of schedule and will be able to help us in the last three or four games before the winter break."